Search for Franklin's Lost Ships Begins

Destroyed in ill-fated quest for Northwest Passage

The Canadian government has launched the largest search in history for the lost ships of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 failed quest for the Northwest Passage. The expedition is the fourth government-led search in five years for the ships that were trapped and destryoed by ice in 1846. While three corpses were exhumed on Beechy Island in the 1980s, the rest remains a mystery; nobody knows where the ships lie or exactly what happened to the 128 men on board. Since the ships’ disappearance, they have become cultural icons in Canada. "Erebus and Terror are probably or arguably the most important exploration wrecks that have not been found," says author John Geiger, whose 2004 book Frozen in Time, co-written with Owen Beattie, documented the polar mission.

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